Release stop or support for hoist cages



June 1o, 1924. 1,497-,sso1l L. D. GRABOSKI RELEASE STOP OR SUPPORT'FOR HOIST CAG-ES June l0 1924. 1,497,501

. L. D. GRABOSKI RELEASE sToP 0R SUPPORT FOR HoIsT cAGEs Filed June 23, 1921 `:2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented June 10, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEO D. GRABOSKI, OF DURYEA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNO'R '10 VULCAN IRON WORKS, OF WlLKES-BARRE, FENNSYLVANIA, A. CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

RELEASE STO-P OR SUEPORT FOR HOIST CAGES.

Application filed .Tune 23, 1921.

To all whom z5- mag/ concern:

Be it known that I, VLno D. GRABosKI, a citizen of the United States, residing in Duryea, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Release Stops or Supports for Hoist Cages, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in release stops or supports for hoist cages, kthe principle object of' theinvention being to provide a stop which may be withdrawn to release the cage or other structure supported thereon without the necessity for first elevating the said cage or structure to take the weight thereof from the stops.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the said stop may be left in the path of the cage or other structure without interfering with the upward travel of the said cage or structure from a point below the stop, the stop being moved aside by the cage or other structure in the upward travel thereof, and returning automatically to the cage-supporting position after the said cage or other structure has passed by.

In the attached drawings:

Figure 1, is a plan view of a structure made in accordance with my invention and of a cage supported by the stops;

Fig. 2, is a side elevation of the structure;

Fig. 3, is a fragmentary side view of one of the stops and a portion of the cage illustrating the position of the former when the cage is moving in the upward direction after the setting of the stop in the advanced or supporting position, and

Fig. 4, is a fragmentary side view showing the stop in the retracted position.

With reference to the drawings, the apparatus comprises a suitable base structure 1, usually a framework of structural steel extending around the shaft in which the cage or movable hoist structure travels, upon which base is supported in suitable bearings 2, 2, and 3, 3, a pair of horizontally disposed shafts 4 and 5 respectively. To one end of the shaft 4, in thepresent instance, is secured in suitable manner an operating lever 6 having movably mounted thereon a bolt or detent 7 which is adapted to engage notches 8 and 9 at the opposite ends of a relatively fixed segment 10, whereby thel said shaft is capable of being locked in two di'erent positions. The shafts 4 and 5 are Serial No. 479,846.

operatively connected by means of reach rods 11 and 12, the opposite ends of which are connected respectively to lever arms 13 and 14 respectively on the opposite ends of the shafts 4 and 5, the relative disposition of the arms 13 and 14 being such that a movement of the lever 6 effects simultaneous oscillation of the shafts 4 and 5 in opposite directions.

AMounted upon the shafts 4 and 5, in the present instance one at each of the ends thereof and disposed adjacent the inner sides of the bearings 2 and 3, are supports 15, said supports each consisting in the present instance of a supporting head 16, from which extends a pair of spaced and parallel arms 17 having intermediate the ends thereof oppositely disposed slots 18 through which the shaft 4 or 5, as the case may be, extends, there being supported between the said arms at the rear thereof a suitable body 19, the weight of which counter-balances to some degree the weight of the head 16. In the present instance, the body 19 is supported upon a bolt 20, which is mounted in oppositely disposed slots 21 in the rear of the said arms 17, said bolt 2O being secured in any desired position longitudinally of the slot 21 by means of the nuts 22 thereon whereby the body 19 may be adjusted to givei the exact degree of counterbalance desire Fixed to the shafts 4 and 5 intermediate the said arms 17 of each of the stops 15, is an arm 23, the outer end of which arm is pivotally connected with the end of a link 24, the opposite end of which link is pivotally secured to the said head 15, said lever arm 23 and link 24 forming a toggle, by means of which when the shafts 4 and 5 are oscillated, the stops are shifted to a retracted position such as shown in Fig. 4, or to an advanced position as shown in Fig. 2, in which latter position the said arm 23 and link 24 are in alignment whereby any force exerted upon the heads of the said stops tending to move them backwardly into the retracted position is counteraeted, the force f sired position, Thesaid recesses 8 and 9 of the segment `l() are also so disposed relative to the lever that when the stops are in the advanced position, the `said detent T occupies the recess or notch 8, and when in the retracted position, the said detent occupies the notch 9 whereby the said lever is securely locked in position. The weight 19 is such that it never quite overbalances the head l5 of the stops, which latter slide on suitable slides 26 on the said base l when the stops are moved fromone position to the other.

The heads 1,6 of the said stops are formed as clearly'illustrated `with an inclined surface 27 which, when the said stops are in the advanced position, are adapted to meet a correspondingly inclined surface 28 vupon the under side of the cage or movable hoist structure 29, as best shown in Fig. 2, whereby ,thesaid structure 29 is supported by the said stops. ``The planes 27 and 28 are so disposed that the Weight of the structure 29 erts a force upon the stops tending to move .them back into the retracted position, and

this ,rearward thrust upon the stops is counteracted by means of the toggle 223-24, in

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the manner previously described.

2It is clear that with this construction, as `soon as the lever 6 is released and moved backwardsslightly tobreak the toggle joint; 23-24,'the weight of the structure 29 will assist the movement of the le verin ret' rzuftiiig' the stops, and as a consequence, when it is desired to release the structure 2li), it is never vnecessary, as 1s the case with stops of the usual form, to first elevate the structure clear of the said stops before they can be withdrawn.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, when the stops are in the advanced position, the heads thereof may be elevated, the stops turning around the shafts 4 and 5. It is accordingly possible with this construction, after the structure 29 j hasp'assed below any one set of stops, to set 'is v.in this connection that `thecoiinterballancmgweight 191s employed,\vhich weightwbrealrs'ithe force ofvthecontact between the head andthe slide plate 26 when the latter 'returns to the normal position.

f ,Numerous advantages are found in this construction, the'chief of these being a substantial saving in power due to the eliminatiernof the necessity ofl raising the cage or "structure "19 when the stopsare withdrawn, .andthe increased production due to the savingjin V time thus accomplished, :Much destructure Jolting of the cages4 is also in this verse the hoist engine after the signal is given to raise the cage from the stops or su pports, is greatly reduced. A substantial advantage is also obtained in the fact that` the stops may be set in the tuilvanced or supporting positions after the cage has moved below their position, which eliminates the necessity for an attendant at that point when it is desired to stop the cage on the next downward trip. The inclination o t' the snpporting surface of the stop to the line of travel of the cage materially reduces the thrust exerted by the cage upon the apparatus, the lateral forces being taken up by the supporting framework.

l claim:

l. The combination with a base structure comprising a guide, of a member movable along the guide in reverse directions, a movable element adapted in advanced position and by engagement with both the basc and the member to constitute a stop preventing advancement of the member in one direction, means for reti-acting the clement, and means operative independent of thc retracting means for rendering tl ad f'anccd elcmcnt inoperative for interrupting the movement of the member in the reverse direction.

2. The combination with a base structure. of a shaft in said structure, a carriage movable in the shaft, an element adapted in ad- 7anced position and by cmgagement with both the base and the carriage to constitute a stop limiting the downward movement of the carriage, means for retracting the elcment, and means operative indeperulent of the retracting means for rendering the advanced element inoperative for interrupting the up Yard movement of the carriage.

3. The combination with a base structure comprising a guide. of a member movable along the guide in reverse directions. a movable element adapted in advanced position and by engagement with both the basc and the member to constitute a stop Incvcnting advancement of the member in onc direct ion, means for retracting said clement. and means operative independent; o the retracting means for rendering the advanced elcinent inclu-native to interrupt the movement of the member in the reverse direction while the retaining its advanced operative position after the member has passed.

4. The combination with a base structure comprising a guide, of a member movable along the guide in reverse directions, a movable element adapted in advanced position and by engagement with both the base and the member/to constitute a stop preventing advancement of the member in one direction, means for manually retracting the element,

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lll() means operative during reverse movement of the member for permitting the shifting of the element to inoperative position independent of the said retracting means, and means automatically operative after. the member has passed for returning the element to the operative position.

5. The combination with a base structure comprising a shaft, of a hoist carriage movable in said shaft, a movable element adapted in advanced position and by'engagement with both the base and the carriage to constitute a support for the carriage, means for manually retracting the element, means operative during upward movement of the carriage for permitting shifting the element independent of said manual means to an inoperative position, and means automatically operative after the carriage has passed the position of the element for returning the element to operative position prior to a further downward movement of the carriage.

6. The combination with a base structure comprising a shaft, of a hoist carriage movable in the shaft, an element mounted on the base structure and movable into the path of the carriage, means for manually retracting the element, means permitting the shifting of the element from its path by the carriage on the upward movement of the latter independent of the said manual means, and means automatically operative for returning the element to the operative position following passage of the carriage.

7. 'The combination with a base structure comprising a shaft, of a hoist carriage movable in the shaft, an element adapted to be moved into the path of and to support the carriage, a rock shaft mounted on the base, a lever on said rock shaft, a link connecting the lever with the said element and forming with the lever a toggle wherebyas the shaft is rotated the element is shifted into and out of the path of the carriage, and means whereby pressure of the carriage upon the'element tends to shift the latter from the path of the carriage, said toggle being such that when the element is in the carria gesupporting position the said thrust exerted upon the element by the carriage is resisted thereby.

8. The combination with a base structure comprising a shaft, of a hoist carriage movable in the shaft, an element adapted to be moved intol the path of and to support the carriage, means whereby pressure of the carriage exerts athrust tending to shift the element from the path of the carriage, meehanism including a toggle for shifting the element into carriage-supporting posit-ion, and mechanism for shifting the element into carriage-supporting position including a toggle adapted when the element is supporting the carriage to resist the said thrust tending to shift the element.

9. The combination with a base structure comprising a shaft, of a hoist carriage movable in the shaft, a rock shaft mounted on the base, an element adapted to be moved into the path of and to support the carriage, an arm on the rock shaft, a link connecting the arm with the said element and forming with the link a toggle whereby as the shaft is oscillated the said element is shifted into and clear of the path of the carriage and is locked in the carriage-supporting position, and manual means for oscillating the shaft to effect withdrawal of said element to release the hoist.

l0. The combination with a base structure comprising a shaft, of a hoist carriage movable in the shaft, a rock shaft mounted on the base, an element having a slot through which said rock shaft extends, a lever on the rock shaft, a link connecting the lever with the slotted element and forming with the lever a toggle by means of which as the said shaft is rocked the element is shifted into or clear of the path of the carriage, means permitting upward movement of the supporting head of said element by contact with the carriage in the upward travel of the latter whereby the element is shifted from the path of the carriage, and means for automatically returning the element to the carriage-supporting position after passage of the hoist in its upward travel.

11. The combination with a base structure comprising a shaft, of a hoist carriage adapted to travel in the shaft mounted on the base structure, an element adapted to be moved into the path of and to support the carriage, means whereby the weight of the carriage on said element tends to shift the latter outwardly from the path of the hoist, an arm on the rock shaft, and a link connecting the arm with the element and forming a toggle whereby rotation of the shaft shifts the element into and out of the path of the carriage, the arm and link being in alignment with each other and with the center line of the rock shaft when the said element is in the carriage-supporting position.

' LEO D. GRABOSKI. 

